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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22448812">Walking Into Disaster</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaurus_maj/pseuds/dinosaurus_maj'>dinosaurus_maj</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Walking Into Disaster [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Big Brothers, Fluff, Gen, I have no idea what I'm doing, I'll tag it if it happens, It's all gonna be sweet sweet fluff and platonic relationships all around, Magic, Might be some romancing in the future tho idk, Misunderstandings, Not romancing anyone!, Past Cannibalism, Platonic Relationships, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader is a bit of a weirdo, Reader is gonna be bffs with everyone, Reader is not entirely human, Reader-Insert, Shapeshifting, Sibling Bonding, So are the skellies so it's okay, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Yeah that's it, You've heard of romancing everyone now get ready for, because I said so, but not really cannibalism??, drum roll, enchanted forest, not beta read but I die like a wimp, past people-eating, reader has a brother, reader has magic, reader is female, reader is not a mage, that's important</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:21:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22448812</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaurus_maj/pseuds/dinosaurus_maj</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When humans sealed monsters away, everything else that were magical went into hiding out of fear. Humans now think that the only magic in the world has been hiding in Mt. Ebott when, in fact, lots more of it have been hiding in plain sight all along.</p><p>You have been living for centuries as one of the last of your kind. Right when you think you've seen everything, monsters surface and you are thrown into a whole new world...filled with skeletons, strangely enough.</p><p>[ON HIATUS]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>If any more relationships pop up I'll tag 'em, Original Character(s) &amp; Reader, Papyrus &amp; Sans (Swapfell), Papyrus &amp; Sans (Underfell), Papyrus &amp; Sans (Underswap), Papyrus &amp; Sans (Undertale), Papyrus (Swapfell) &amp; Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Walking Into Disaster [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. An A-Waffle-y Weird Human</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/11692404">Bones, Picked Clean</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/luluwrites/pseuds/lulu-writes">lulu-writes (luluwrites)</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You have a waffle date.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The first chapter is here! I actually had a lot of fun with this one. I hope y'all like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Monsters.</p><p>They're the most recent change in life and rival the Internet on being the most interesting.</p><p>They had accumulated themselves into human society not without a few bumps in the road, but with the help of a child's determination and the combined efforts of humans and monsters alike, they had successfully become part of everyday life in only a few years. Everywhere you look, monsters are walking down the street, working, going to school, hanging out, etc.</p><p>It was strange yet refreshing to see the mythical and the magical walk among humans. You have lived many years looking out windows and gazing up at the ominous mountain that loomed over the city, wondering if you'd live many more years to be able to see the monsters imprisoned within it. The magical community has been discussing it for as long as you could remember. Every few years, someone would bring it up and there would be panic until people forgot about it again in a few months. No matter which generation, they'd end up talking about it. </p><p>The big deal was that no one knew for sure the true nature of monsters. No one had lived long enough to tell the tale, not even you, and reserved records covering monsters tended to contradict each other, so everyone had to wait for (if) the seal to break to know exactly what they were like.</p><p>It was a surprise to many people that they turned out to be peaceful. It was an even bigger surprise that a child had been the one to break the seal. Not even the monsters knew how they did it. It was a mystery that you predict would still baffle magicals a century from now.</p><p>You were as glad as anyone that monsters didn't proclaim war on humanity. You're not old enough to have experienced the first Human-Monster War, but you know that it wasn't pretty. It had resulted in many casualties on all sides; humans, monsters <i>and</i> magicals. The battle had resulted in magicals hiding away, simply making them objects of myth and fantasy along with the banished monsters. Even with their small numbers, it was best not to underestimate magic, especially beings made entirely of them. No one needed to live as long as you have to know not to meddle with the stuff, even if you were 'half-magic', as some would put it.</p><p>Magicals tend to live longer than regular humans do. They're sort of an in-between of monsters and humans, being made of both magic <i>and</i> matter. Some examples of magicals are unicorns, mages, gryphons, y'know, stuff like that. You were one of 'that stuff'. Magical.</p><p>You've been living for so long that you had started to grow afraid of the world running out of things to keep you entertained. As if in a desperate attempt to prove you wrong, humans have been advancing way faster than they have for the past centuries. You're always looking forward to a new movie or a new invention every year. Not to mention video games, medical advancements... They're really impressive.</p><p>Monsters might just wipe them off their pedestal, though.</p><p>Returning to the surface world, monsters brought with them new cultures, creations and magic that you'd never experienced before. They were really interesting, and though you might regret it in a few decades, you've been scrounging up every bit of information that you could about them. How they walked, talked, ate, cooked, everything.</p><p>It was a great time to be a long-lasting magical. There was something new for you every single day and you were practically just running around and checking out every single monster-related thing you could find.</p><p>Which was why you were sitting in a bakery to meet one right now.</p><p>So, the other night at Grillby's, you <i>might've</i> had a little too much too drink and <i>might've</i> gotten yourself in trouble. You had been frequenting the pub since it opened and have been mingling with the other regulars there who were mostly monsters. At first, plenty of humans came by to check out the cool new monster place and try out the monster food, but after a few weeks it had died down to usually just you.</p><p>A lot of monsters were actually really good company and easy to get along with. You liked petting the dogs and talking with the fish and bird monster that always sat at the bar. Occasionally, a herd of bunnies would come in and get drunk off their asses and <s>scream</s> do karaoke. It's always funny.</p><p>There was also that skeleton monster, too--Sans. He was pretty popular with the other monsters, and you could understand why. He was a funny and interesting guy (maybe with some unhealthy eating habits), but you kept your distance. Why? Because he was a Boss Monster.</p><p>No one needed to tell you twice. Heck, no one needed to tell you at all. You could feel his magic every time he walked in. He was powerful, and that only made you even more curious, but you had to resist the urge to (metaphorically and literally) poke at him because you didn't want to get in trouble. Heavens know that your brother and the Magical Council won't get off your back about it for weeks.</p><p>That was easy to do until he brought his cousin with him. You were okay with his other Boss Monster cousins that came in now and then--'Stretch' is a chill guy and 'Red''s okay, even if he was a bit of a hothead and his magic was a little bit stronger--but this guy, who kinda looked like both Stretch and Red combined, his magic came off of him in waves and it made you feel antsy. It was easy to figure out why. The guy was nervous bordering on terrified, so his magic was flaring out to scare threats. The other monsters felt it too, because they were doing their best to get him comfortable. Aw.</p><p>The scene reminded you of something from the early years after your mother died. You were still young, not fully matured and your brother was doing his best to take care of the both of you. You were both walking among the most magicals you had ever experienced at that point and he held your hand the entire time, even though you were supposed to be old enough to handle it.</p><p>Wait, where were you? Oh, right. The guy got a little bit more confident after getting some drinks in him. He was cracking jokes with his cousin and the other patrons in no time, looking like he was having the time of his life. His magical flare-up had died away, but you were still very jittery and you really felt like punching someone.</p><p>You did your best to calm yourself down. It really wouldn't be good if you lost control. Fortunately, you were an expert at wrestling your violent urges. You're all good. <i>Super</i> good...</p><p>Shoot, he'd <i>had</i> to have gold on him.</p><p>The scent had carried to you with his magical energy like a leaf in a breeze. You had learned to block out the smell of gold, and fortunately for you and everybody else, monsters hardly carried any anymore, having swapped them for human currency. But, the smell, combined with the magical energy made your instincts kick your rationality to the curb and made it your main goal to <i>get that gold</i>.</p><p>Your body moved almost automatically. You had tried to fight it, but before you knew it you were walking out the pub with the skeleton cousin hot on your tail.</p><p><i>Don't you dare pull out the cloak,</i> you heard yourself think from the back of your mind. <i>Just leave</i> now.</p><p>You slipped the cloak out from within your sleeve. It unfurled and grew, wrapping around your shoulders magically. You slinked into the shadows of an alley and the cloak wrapped around your entire body, rendering you completely invisible.</p><p>The guy walked right past you and right to where you wanted him. You let the invisibility down and played your routine. He had gotten spooked out of his mind, evident from how his magic crackled around him defensively, but all that did was fuel your urges. You couldn't think of anything else.</p><p>You pulled out your knife and...</p><p>"are you... mugging me?"</p><p>You startled and your magical high hiccuped.</p><p>Who...who would even ask that? Wasn't he scared? You were supposed to scare him. You were scary. Why wasn't he scared? <i>Why did he ask that?</i></p><p>You were so baffled that you lost your cool and your threatening aura ran off immediately, not turning back and leaving you in an awkward situation.</p><p>You tried desperately to grasp it again, because you were in this now and there was no turning back, but without the bravado from your magical instincts fuelling you and telling you what to do your attempts fall flat and pitiful.</p><p>Might as well get some gold now! You haven't been intending on stealing any lately, but heck, why not! Thanks a lot, dumb instincts!</p><p>You're just embarrassed and pissed off now. You remember screaming in his face and smelling him for gold and staring at his tooth.</p><p>And then you only got three pieces out of it. What the hell.</p><p>Your instincts suck.</p><p>Or maybe they didn't, because he offered to meet up again to give you more gold. Your greedy-ass instincts immediately reared its head again, but you were rational enough to not immediately accept. You weren't stupid, there was a catch.</p><p>Or... Not? He actually seemed genuinely interested in helping you out. This guy was full of surprises wasn't he?</p><p>In the end, you had both agreed to meeting up at Muffet's, which led to where you were now; Sitting in a corner of the bakery and eating waffles.</p><p>Well, to you it was eating. To onlookers and your friend Dare, you were inhaling them. Muffet, Dare's boss and the owner, (obviously. She also happens to be a Boss Monster.) made a comment on whether you were actually human, which Dare had briefly panicked about, but she wasn't serious about it and was content with you eating all of their stores as long as you were paying.</p><p>Last night, you had gotten an unexpected call from your brother about a quick 'errand' that only you could take care of, so you had come in earlier to the bakery to stuff yourself full again after the task had drained you. It was also why there were already five empty plates on the table when the skeleton cousin finally arrived with his other cousins, Sans, Stretch and...you think the other one's called Blue? He says something to them before he splits away and towards you and your many empty plates.</p><p>His magical eyes (??) boggle out of his eyesockets at the sight. You just stare back at him while idly drinking your coffee.</p><p>"Good morning," you greet in a friendly manner.</p><p>"...'morning." He replied sheepishly. You snicker to yourself.</p><p>"What? My massive appetite scare you or something?" you ask.</p><p>"kinda," he says, checking the chair across from you for spiders before sitting down. "didn't think humans could eat so much... kinda looks like the table at home after breakfast."</p><p>You chuckle, and he eases a bit. Good, the guy looked like he was ready to jump out the window at the slightest breeze. His behaviour was understandable, though, considering the other night.</p><p>Not to mention, he was carrying a small bag full of gold that he didn't want anyone to see. You're mindful of Muffet's many eyes as well as the others in the bakery, and so is he. She spends a bit of time talking to his cousins sitting around a table a ways behind him, her back to the both of you, but she keeps looking over her shoulder at him and there was a little spider perched on her head.</p><p>"She's not always so... suspicious," Dare says as he comes up to you, his notebook held close to his chest. He looks at the skeleton across from you and then the ones Muffet are talking to, looking thoughtful. "Is that your brother over there?"</p><p>The skeleton jumps a little bit in his seat, his eyes wide and his magic coming off him in alarmed waves as if he'd been caught in a lie.</p><p>"no!" he says loudly. You hear other customers go silent at his outburst, Muffet even stopping in her chat with his cousins for a moment. His mouth closed with a clack, and as you had been staring at his tooth you notice how perfectly his fangs slot together. "he's... they're not... not my bro. they're my... <i>our</i> cousins. 've only got one bro."</p><p>Your mental lie detector goes off, but you give him the benefit of the doubt and instead assume that it was just his anxiety and your paranoia making you think that. You had made assumptions like that before which had gotten you in trouble and you did not intend to repeat mistakes like those.</p><p>"Huh," Dare says. It looks like he wants to ask something else, but a concerned expression briefly crosses his face before he changes his mind. "A-Anyway, erm, sorry for that." He pulls his notebook away from hi chest and clicks his pen, a bright smile on his face in contrast to his previous expression. "What would you like to order?"</p><p>"oh, uh..." He looks at the menu helplessly, looking like he wanted to order everything. Even if it was mean, you can't help but laugh.</p><p>"Don't worry, I'll pay for it," you say. "and I suggest the waffles. They are <i>a waffle</i>-y good."</p><p>He seems surprised at your friendly demeanor (and a bit miffed at the pun), hiding his face behind the menu and mumbling an "um, okay."</p><p>Man, he was so awkward that it hurt. Almost literally, since he has the tendency to send out waves of emotion anytime he felt anything. You used to that too, as a child, but then had learned how to properly hold a conversation with a stranger and defend yourself with other means than just threatening magical auras. Obviously, they weren't very useful for much except keeping little critters away.</p><p>In the end, he ends up ordering the monster's waffle with ice cream and a chocolate milkshake. Dare takes his order down.</p><p>"And you?" he says, and then, almost sarcastically, "Any more waffles?"</p><p>You laugh, and the skeleton switches his eyelights between the two of you.</p><p>"No, I'm fine, thank you. Just, maybe a... Spider Donut Special?" You direct your eyes at Muffet, who was standing behind the counter again. Dare catches on. He nods, collects your plates and walks away.</p><p>"I'll be back with your order in just a moment," he tells you in his customer voice, but you know already. Magic food was pretty quick to cook up.</p><p>"oh, you know that guy." the skeleton says to you. He doesn't sound surprised at all.</p><p>"Yeah. That's Dare." you say simply, keeping an eye on Muffet. Dare is saying something to her, causing her to turn away from your general direction, and all the spiders have their many eyes on him the moment he opens his mouth. You tap the table, drawing the skeleton's attention back to you since he had been watching too.</p><p>"The coast is clear. Give them to me," you urge him, holding your hand out under the table. He silently obliges, pressing a heavy bag into your palm. Your senses are immediately alert. You are very aware of the weight, the feel of the gold pieces in your hand. You want to open it and breathe in the glorious, delicious smell but you hold yourself down. <i>Do that later.</i> you tell yourself strictly. <i>Not here.</i></p><p>The spiders make gleeful chittering noises (which Dare had explained were them laughing) and Muffet giggles, turning back around.</p><p>"What's the deal with you and your 'cousins'?" you say casually, as if he hadn't just been smuggling gold to you. Actually, the question seemed to bother him more than that exchange, and he began to look nervous again.</p><p>"oh, um...we...we're cool with each other." You raise your eyebrows, silently asking him to elaborate. "um, somethin' happend an' we moved in together, a while back. it's been pretty rough so far, but the others are pretty nice to me, and so's everyone else, and my big bro..."</p><p>He falters, going silent as he searched for the right words. You wait patiently. The point of the question was just to distract yourself and to keep up the image of two friends hanging out, but you didn't mind listening or anything.</p><p>"...my brother's kinda...taking it roughly?" he says it reluctantly, as if he was telling you a close-kept secret. "he's not really all that used to the surface yet and he... doesn't get along with our cousins that much yet, especially this one guy--uh, i won't get into it--" he cuts off quickly. "and he's kinda protective of me? he got mad that i went out the other night. it wasn't really fun and he yelled at our cousins, but i get that he's just...scared...an'--and worried, y'know?"</p><p>He looks back at you, watching him intently, and he sighs.</p><p>"i'm...i'm sorry...stars, what am i doing? sorry for going on for so long, you...probably don't care, and have your own problems. 'm just complainin'. stars..." He looks away, embarrassed. You feel bad for him, for the fact that he would think that way, and for pulling that schtick the other night.</p><p>"Oh, no, it's alright," you tell him immediately, which was true. "I get it if you need someone to talk to, even if it's a stranger that...tried to mug you." You're still embarrassed about that, at how you lost control and then lost your cool, as if you were still young and reckless. "And, actually, I know what that feels like."</p><p>He looks at you questioningly and you nod.</p><p>"I have an older brother too. When we were...young, our mother passed away. We didn't have any other family, and so he had to do everything to take care of the both of us." A stricken expression crossed his face, but you waved  it away. "Sure, it took awhile to get used to it just being 'us', but we're both okay now. He was very protective too, and he's still kinda am (it's just a big brother thing, I guess), but we both understand that we can take care of ourselves now, even if we still need each other now and then."</p><p>The skeleton sighs (you ponder on how he does it), almost wistfully.</p><p>"man, that's...that's cool. i'm glad." He really does seem so. His magical energy has calmed, and he looks a bit more relaxed. "y'think...me and my bro can...?"</p><p>"Yeah, of course!" you say confidently with a reassuring smile. "Especially when you've got a sibling to help you out. Sure, you may fight sometimes, but that can't be helped, and a little spat doesn't really change the fact that you're siblings and that you care about each other."</p><p>He contemplates on your words, his clawed phalanges picking on the tablecloth.</p><p>"i...thanks," he says after a moment. "i think i... really needed to hear that from someone else."</p><p>You smile wide. "Anytime, bud."</p><p>Your orders arrive and as he digs into his waffle, you realize that you can't stomach any more magic and offer him the donut, which he accepts happily. You both make idle conversation, from which you learn that he has a sweet tooth and a total of six cousins living with him. You also learn for sure that his name is 'Russ', or at least, that was what his nickname was, and you tell him yours. Your current name, of course. One of the hassles of being ageless was having to get a new identity every few decades. Your brother had to sometimes remind you what your actual name was--he was the only other person alive who knew.</p><p>You ask Russ what his brother is like, and he goes on and on about him without any prompting, seeming very fond of him. You understand why--the guy raised him after all, and it was practically the younger sibling's duty to look up to the older sibling, but his brother also used to be part of the Royal Guard back underground. He didn't say it, but the guard's disbandment upon surfacing was likely why his brother is having such a rough time on the surface so far. You'd be pissed too if you lost your rank and title like that.</p><p>In turn, you tell him a little bit about your brother.</p><p>"He's way smarter than me, takes after mom a bit more than I do," and by that you meant that he was an absolute magical know-it-all. You list off the rest of his feats as if reading from a script. You tell him just enough, but not too little. "He even writes books and stuff and he was the one that put food on our plates and made all the money after she left. He's why we're both so comfortable now; I don't know what I'd do without him. I'm a lot more capable now to help out, but he's the one who does all the work, honestly."</p><p>He squints at you, stirring his milkshake with the straw. Looking at the expression on his face, you realize what you've just said. The circumstances of the two of you meeting had to have implied some things. You think he had the impression that you were still struggling, considering what you had tried to do.</p><p>"how...how comfortable <i>are</i> you?" he questions. You can hear the suspicion in his voice.</p><p>You don't falter. You know what to say; honesty was the only way to go from here, even if there were some things you couldn't tell him about. You didn't want to keep up a lie. He was a nice guy and you didn't want him to keep giving you gold, no matter how much you liked it (you know that that was just your dumb instincts being greedy like always).</p><p>"Actually, I've been meaning to get to that," you say, fidgeting with the gemstone hanging from the choker around your throat. You feel heat creep up your neck and colour your cheeks as you continue, half-truthing your ass off. "The other night, I actually was...kinda sorta really drunk? I like collecting things, actually, and I always thought that monster gold was really cool and you have that tooth and all so I think that my drunk ass thought that mugging you was a good idea."</p><p>He's quiet for a moment, staring at you with mild disbelief. You're afraid that he might not believe you and that you'd have to wipe him--you briefly wonder if he'd believe the full truth.</p><p>The corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk, and he lets out a wheezing laugh. Relief washes over you at that, and you smile with him.</p><p>"stars, you humans are...pretty weird," he snickers, and your blush deepens.</p><p>"Eheh, yeah." You chuckle. "Are you cool with me keeping the gold? I can pay you back if you want."</p><p>"yeah, sure. you actually seem like a cool person, i don't mind," he sighs, bracing his elbow on the table and resting his chin on the back of his gloved hand. "do you often mug people when you're drunk?"</p><p>You take a moment to answer, thinking back to previous instances you'd been 'drunk'. You remember one particular memorable event. Two, actually, and you chuckle to yourself.</p><p>"You'd...be surprised."</p><p>This wasn't your first encounter with a skeleton, after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I think there are some pacing problems and inconsistencies, but those'll have to be fixed in the future. As usual, I did this instead of finishing my homework first, so I can't start on the next chapter right away until I get those out of the way.</p><p>Tell me what you guys think! I feel like I'm going to be writing the chapters in one-shots style, but they're all gonna be connected. I don't have all that many solid ideas, just a few, so comment prompts and ideas and stuff, help me brainstorm, inspire me!</p><p>Also, I read Bones, Picked Clean recently and boy is it good. I'm gonna be basing the sibling relationships and dynamics off of the ones from there because they're just. So good.</p><p>(P.S. English is not my first language and so there are likely grammar mistakes. I struggle most with past and present stuff. Please tell me of any errors and/or typos and I'll fix em!)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Throw me a bone, would you?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You help your new friend out.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I realized that I should probably tell y'all to read the previous works in the series? It's not necessary, I don't think, but there's some stuff there that isn't in here (like Russ meeting Reader for the first time)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The buzzing of your phone wakes you from your nap. You remember that you had been dreaming something pleasant, but you don't mind being woken.</p><p>You rub your eyes and yawn, sitting up and stretching. You hear the satisfying sound of your bones popping back into place and you are reminded of your new skeleton acquaintance. You had told him to text you, didn't you?</p><p>You turn on your phone and instead see a message from your brother.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Brother</b><br/>
<i>The Council wants an update. What do you have?</i>
</p><p> </p><p>You rub your eyes again until the keyboard comes into focus. Your brother was working deep in what could be considered as the magical government; the Magical Council. It was top secret to regular humans, of course, and it kept tabs on all remaining magicals in the world since there are so few left now. It was made up of the great fairies and representatives from each magical race. Your brother represented yours (even though there were only two of your kind left) while you kept an eye on things in town.</p><p>The Council had recently started contacting the monster monarch and are debating on whether or not magicals should reveal themselves to humans now that monsters are free and magic is out in the open. You don't mind either way--you're fine as you are now, even if it was a bit of a hassle sometimes. You honestly don't think that things would be any different. Your brother, on the other hand, think that magicals should stay secret and have been fiercely arguing with anyone in the Council that thought otherwise. It sounded like chaos over there, which made you glad that you had dropped out of being involved in magical politics long ago.</p><p>You begin to type your report. You tell him that yeah, monsters are still peaceful. They aren't plotting anything--At least, nothing that you know of. Like usual, you assure him that you'll inform him immediately if anything changes.</p><p>While you're at it, you tell him about helping Dare find a unicorn for his semi-final exam to become a full-fledged animal-whisperer. You also add in that he got a job at Muffet's and that your brother should come with you to try the pastries sometime. You tell him that they're 'Spiderful'.</p><p>You pause, wondering if you should add anything else. Should you tell him about the other Boss Monsters you've met? The skeletons at Grillby's and your incident with Russ? You feel like it's unnecessary. He likely has a list of all the Boss Monsters in existence already so you only tell him that you've got yourself indebted to someone again. He's probably going to chastise you for getting into another debt before clearing the one that you have with Dare's family, but his texts and calls have been so scarce and short lately that you actually think that that would be unlikely. He's been very busy in the months since the monsters' surfacing. You wonder if he'll even see your text this week.</p><p>With that in mind, you edit your text a bit to shorten it before sending. You scroll up the massive wall of text, reading it over again for any typos or grammatical errors. Not spotting any, you scroll up more, passing by more walls of text sent from you and short texts from your brother. The last time you've had a proper conversation over text was four months ago.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Brother</b><br/>
<i>Be careful on your way. I don't want to have cooked dinner for nothing.</i>
</p><p>
  <b>You</b><br/>
<i>I will and again, you were the one that did it! I wanted to help okay :p</i>
</p><p>
  <b>Brother</b><br/>
<i>You can do the dishes then.</i>
</p><p>
  <b>You</b><br/>
<i>Aw, come on</i>
</p><p> </p><p>You sigh, clicking your phone off and lying back. You press it to your forehead and close your eyes.</p><p>The last time you've had a 'family' dinner was four months ago. That was the last time you've been in the same room and the same house as him. That was also the last time you've heard his voice directly and not from a phone's speaker.</p><p>Though you loathed to admit it like you've always had, you missed him. Sure, he was annoying sometimes, but still...You were lonely without him.</p><p>It was embarrassing. You were a grown woman, you should be able to be fine on your own, but somehow you could just never get used to living alone. Alone, in your own spacious apartment, while your house stood empty and he was with the Council all the time.</p><p>You remember gathering herbs and hunting animals with him in the forest around your home. You always miss having him on the other side of the wall and being a kid and running into his room to ask him to sing you to sleep because you had a nightmare. You miss helping him with a spells and brewing potions with him.</p><p>He did all the things mother never did. He never hurt you. You could rely on him, and he could rely on you. Unlike other things, constantly having him in your life wasn't boring, but dependable. He was the only person that could stick around for so long anyway, and he was the only person that did.</p><p>You must've fallen asleep again at some point, because you're startled awake again by your phone's buzzing. You grunt, sitting up again to finally look at your other messages.</p>
<hr/><p>"Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyelights on the road."</p><p>Russ adjusts his grip and straightens, looking a lot more comfortable now that you've taught him how to adjust his seat. He glances down again at his feet on the pedals.</p><p>"It's awkward and scary at first, but you're gonna get used to it," you assure him, popping a french fry into your mouth. He squints at you jealously before facing the road ahead of him, as per your advice.</p><p>After waking up from your nap the other day, you and Russ had agreed on your first favor--Driving. Well, a driving lesson, to be more specific.</p><p>It had begun with him mentioning how he didn't want to rely on his cousins all the time. You had said "Just get a driving license dude" and he admitted that he was worried of majorly screwing up and humiliating himself in front of a stranger since he knew nothing, and he was sort of shy to ask for pointers from one of his cousins or his brother. It was kinda silly--the point of lessons are to <i>learn</i>, after all. If anyone wanted to judge him for being less than an expert at something he knew nothing about then they can suck it.--but you understood where he was coming from and offered to coach him. He was unsure of it at first, but you promised not to judge him and reminded him that you owed him anyway.</p><p>You don't mind doing deeds for other people--as long as there's something in it for you, of course. Being an ageless magical, you've done almost everything there is to do and seen everything there is to see, so it's a good way to fill in time instead of just sitting around playing videogames and being a hermit (you've tried that life for a few years. Due to your instinctual need for social interaction and building restlessness however, it became less and less appealing).</p><p>"you're not too attached to this car, are you?" he asks jokingly, but there's some anxiousness in his tone as he waits for some other cars to pass by.</p><p>"Hm, that depends." You lick your greasy fingers. "On how good this seatbelt is."</p><p>He chuckles at the distracted joke but seems a bit grossed out at what a sloppy eater you are. He eases your car to the left and you gently applaud him with your greasy hands, being careful as to not spill the paper bag off your lap.</p><p>"you eat a lot." he comments as he continues down your planned path for him. He must have been holding that in since you stopped by a drive-thru half an hour ago before the lesson.</p><p>"I get hungry a lot. Can't help it."</p><p>It comes with having an oversized mythical beast as a second form.</p><p>You tell him to stop at a red traffic light, which he very nearly runs over. He seems confused about it, and you briefly worry over other monsters confusing blue instead of red for 'Stop' up here.</p><p>"how long've you lived in ebott for?" he asks you a bit stiffly. It was obvious he was just trying to fill the awkward silence.</p><p>"I travel a lot, actually," you reply truthfully. "I've been all over the world with my brother, but we were born and raised here in Ebott."</p><p>"oh?" He sounds more interested this time, his eyelights flicking towards you. "what kinda places you've been to?"</p><p>"Everywhere." You recall your trips to Japan to meet with the kitsune, and trips to Scotland to check on the 'Nessie'. You remember having to travel to the other side of the world a few years ago to eradicate a rogue group of werewolves and vampires that were risking magical discovery. You tell him all this, leaving out the magical-related parts of course. You've been all over, but Ebott's always been your home, as it is every other magical's home.</p><p>You munch on another fry. You think about you and your brother's empty house, how even when you're in Ebott it's still not lived in. You think about your mother's house, hidden somewhere in Ebott's enchanted forest. You remember her, crying, calling you a mistake.</p><p>Your fingers absentmindedly trace the scars beneath your eye. You like to pretend that it's always just been the two of you, but the things that had happened in that house are some of the things that you could never forget.</p><p>"there weren't that many places underground," Russ mentions, pulling you out of your thoughts. His eyelights follow your hand's motion before you drop it to grab your soda. "'s just...snowdin, waterfall, hotland, the capital and all the same old monsters wandering around everyday. the surface is so big in comparison i can't imagine that you could explore all of it."</p><p>"Well, it's possible when you've got the money and the time." Which you have a lot of both. It got a lot easier when your brother allied with the Council and they started sponsoring your expeditions.</p><p>"you work?"</p><p>"I do a lot of...odd jobs."</p><p>"i did too. i worked as a sentry for the royal guard, but i did other stuff for money."</p><p>"Like what?" It was an innocent question, but he suddenly pauses and then stiffens. Liquid magic starts to bead on his skull and you feel his magical energy radiate anxiousness.</p><p>"i..." he trails off. It seems again as if he was about to tell you something he wasn't supposed to. "...sold corndogs."</p><p>A different person would probably think that he was embarrassed, but you knew that he was hiding something. Whether it's something good or bad, you have no clue. Your current guess was that he used to do some shady stuff. He didn't seem fazed by your mugging him, after all.</p><p>"Neat," is all that you say. You fish a stray french fry out of the paper bag. "I love doing jobs that pay me to eat stuff."</p><p>"i...don't think you've been doing it right. unless...?" He looks thoughtful. "does a job like that actually exist?"</p><p>"Food tasting." And owing someone with a girlfriend or mom that's bad at cooking.</p><p>"oh right." He looks away for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly snap back onto the road. "rightrightRIGHT--"</p><p>He yanks on the wheel and your car swerves wildly to the right, narrowly missing running over a fluffy white dog. Your fry flies out of your hand and your seatbelt tugs on your chest. There's a loud, sickening crash as your car smashes right into the side of a tree. You and Russ simultaneously curse, releasing both of your seatbelts and running out.</p><p>The smell of destruction quickly hits you. The front of your car was completely wrecked, trails of smoke flying into the sky and filling the air with a foul smell. You run your hand through your hair and heave a sigh. </p><p>Well...that's not a first, but it was still an undesirable outcome.</p><p>Russ looks (and feels) distressed, palming his face and holding his skull in his hands. He continues to curse profusely.</p><p>"stars, i'm so, so, <i>so</i> sorry." He groans through his teeth but you're quick to reassure him.</p><p>"Hey, it's not that big of a deal, honestly." Which was absolutely true. "I mean, yeah, it's a shame, but I can just get a new one, it's not a problem. You've basically already paid for it anyway."</p><p>You then look back out at the road and see the dog still standing there, it's tongue lolling out of its mouth as it grinned and wagged its tail. You knew that dogs were intelligent, but this one seems to have no idea that its life was just in peril.</p><p>You notice that it's collarless and begin to approach it.</p><p>"Hey, boy..." you begin. "Or are you a girl?"</p><p>The dog barks and then continues to pant excitedly with its tongue out of its mouth. You're not that adept at animal-speak, but from what you understood it had said something like: <i>Enemy defeated! Let's play!</i></p><p>"You want to play?" you call out in a baby-voice. "Let's play 'Come Here'. Come here!"</p><p>The dog doesn't obey. It instead proceeds to call you boring and declare a game of chase. It shoots off in the opposite direction, and you immediately sprint after it. A car honks loudly and you hear Russ shout an apology.</p><p>Before either you or the dog could get too far, you feel a sudden tug in your chest. You shout as you fall onto your butt on the sidewalk, glimpsing something glowing blue over your chest.</p><p>You were ready to retaliate and use your own magic to ward off the spell on you, but then you realize that it's not a type of magic that you've experienced before.</p><p>"crap, sorry!" Russ says and the pressure on your chest disappears along with the blue glow. "i didn't want you to run into the street and--i panicked and--stars!"</p><p>You stay sat on the sidewalk. Again, it wasn't much of a problem for you, but that doesn't mean it still didn't hurt.</p><p>"Ow." is all that you say as you begin to stand up. Black spots swim in your vision and you have to close your eyes for a moment.</p><p>The dog barks and you open your eyes again to see it waiting for you a distance away with its tail wagging a mile a minute, hopping around where it stood.</p><p>"stay here." Russ looks left and right before crossing the street. The dog leans on its front paws at his approach, barking excitedly. It's about to run off again when Russ suddenly waves his hand and a bone appears out of thin air and into his grasp. The dog turns back around and jumps up, barking excitedly for the bone now.</p><p>Russ tosses the bone. The dog jumps on it as soon as it hits the ground, giving him a chance to grab it and hold it still in his arms. It doesn't struggle, happy to admit defeat with the bone in its possession.</p><p><i>Yow cawt me thes tayme,</i> the dog says through the bone. <i>But awm tha reel winnew!</i></p><p>Russ brings the dog back to where you were standing and rubbing the bump in your butt.</p><p>"Good job." You grin despite the pain, giving him a thumbs up. "You make quite the dog-catcher, skeleton man."</p><p>"'s not the first time," he says, though he seems a bit proud. "sometimes the canine unit needed someone to keep them on track."</p><p>You find yourself smiling at the mention of your friends at the pub. "You worked with the canine unit?"</p><p>"yeah--uh," he stops abruptly, his eyesockets widening as if you had caught him saying something wrong. "sometimes."</p><p>You raise an eyebrow. Were you not supposed to know about that? The dogs never mentioned him (at least, not by name, but they have mentioned working with skeletons, Sans specifically being one of them), so you figured that that was likely the case.</p><p>"you okay?" He looks genuinely worried for you, bless him.</p><p>"Yeah, it's just a bruise, I'll be fine." You then turn to the dog, playfully ruffling the fur on its face.</p><p>"You're in big trouble, buddy," you tell it, but it continues to grin and wag its tail. You chuckle and shake your head. "Luckily for you, I know some nice people that can take good care of you."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I legit googled 'how to drive' to try and write this chapter.</p><p>This one was kinda hard to figure out, but I think I got it in the end. It ended up devolving into more stuff about Reader and less skele-friendship, but I'm pretty happy with it. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have tried to write a chapter about driving considering I know nothing about it lol</p><p>It wasn't supposed to end like that, but as soon as I wrote the dog in my mind went "Capture dog. Take dog to magic shelter." and here we are. I like this ending better anyway. The next chapter might be a lil short, but I'm hoping to post it tomorrow.</p><p>Thanks for commenting and giving kudos! I'm still accepting suggestions on what to write, so please leave ideas and prompts for future chapters if you have any &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. An Ice Guy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Russ gets ice cream.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but eh here it is ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After calling someone to get your car, you and Russ catch a bus to get to the animal shelter. He was a bit nervous about it at first which then changed into curiosity and mild excitement. Monsters didn't have public transport, apparently, aside from a (free!) transportation service by boat through the Underground and conveyor belts in Hotland, which he told you he hated with a passion.</p><p>The other passengers mostly minded their own business, but a lot of them did look up when the two of you boarded. He was carrying a dog and was absurdly tall and a monster; those things tended to attract people's attention.</p><p>You sat with him at the back, the dog surprisingly tame in his arms. It appeared that it was fully content with the bone in its possession and wasn't going to cause any trouble anytime soon.</p><p>The ride was pretty uneventful aside from a kid leaning out of her seat and staring at the dog longingly.</p><p>"you wanna pet 'im?" Russ had asked her. She had looked away shyly, lifting her hand reluctantly.</p><p>"Is that okay?"</p><p>Russ nodded, the smile on his face reassuring. The girl reached out and gently petted the dog's head. She then gasped, "He's so soft!" and petted him a bit more vigorously.</p><p>"Cara, sit down." her father called. He was looking at Russ apprehensively and didn't sound angry, just mildly concerned.</p><p>You wondered what he could've been thinking. You understood how people can think Russ is scary; he was a skeleton with fangs and claws, but that doesn't faze you since you've lived with considerably 'scary' and 'odd' things your entire life.</p><p>You wondered if Russ would look at you like that if he knew what you were. How strange would monsters think shapeshifting humans are?</p><p>The two of you got off when the bus finally arrived at your stop. The father and his daughter got off at the same stop and the girl waved at the two of you (and the dog) as they went down the opposite direction.</p><p>You led the way to the animal shelter, making idle conversation along the way. The dog had begun to get restless, but Russ kept a firm hold. It was likely that it belonged to someone from how clean and tame it was, but you haven't caught it mentioning an owner or a master.</p><p>The animal shelter was a short distance from the bus stop, so you reached it in no time. You passed by a sign at the gate that wrote <i>Malva's Animal Lives Rescue Centre</i> as you entered, Russ sticking so close to you that he bumps into you when you suddenly stop at the front desk.</p><p>"Hey Lyn." you call to the receptionist.</p><p>She jumps, her magic flaring. It dies down when she realizes that it's just you and she turns away from her work to greet you.</p><p>"Oh! It's been awhile," she says with a bright smile. "How have you been?"</p><p>"I've been alright. Just stopped by 'cause this little guy needs a place to room for a bit." You step aside to let her see the dog in Russ's arms. The dog is still holding the bone in a vice grip, drool dripping down its chin. Russ wipes some of it with the sleeve of his hoodie and awkwardly waves. Lyn starts a bit when she realizes that he's a skeleton monster, but she gets over her startle quickly enough.</p><p>"The dog or the skeleton?" she teases you, and you fake laugh. It was a bit of an inside joke, alluding to how big your greater form was.</p><p>"The dog," you clarify anyway. "Found him running around on the street."</p><p>Lyn looks briefly alarmed and then relieved.</p><p>"Thanks for bringing him in!" she says, pressing a button behind the counter. Shortly after, someone walks into the room through a door leading to the rest of the building.</p><p>Dare pauses upon seeing you, blinking and probably running ideas through his head as to why you were here before noticing the dog. Russ's skull creases (??) in a motion that you guessed was the equivalent to him raising his eyebrows.</p><p>"you're the guy at muffet's right?"</p><p>Dare chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I was actually about to ask you the same thing."</p><p>He then leans forward a little to meet the dog at eye level. He attempts to tug at the bone, but it's locked firmly between the dog's teeth.</p><p>"Hey there, bud," he says. "Can you let go of that bone for me? I promise I've got some treats for you if you do."</p><p>The dog becomes absolutely thrilled at that, releasing its hold on the bone and letting Dare pull it away, holding it where it was dry. He hands it to Russ in exchange for the dog. He holds it close and quietly asks it questions like "Do you have a name?" "What about an owner?" "Do you have any family?"</p><p>Russ is looking at him curiously, probably listening to the quiet exchange. It occurs to you that he might actually understand Dog considering he used to work with some, Lesser Dog and Greater Dog speaking that language over the common one.</p><p>Dare catches his stare and awkwardly smiles, thanking the two of you and promising the dog a good home in his customer voice. The dog looks at the two of you over his shoulder as it disappears into the back with him.</p><p>Lyn chats with you for a bit, idly asking about your brother and what you've been up to lately. She casts glances at Russ, silently asking <i>"Does he know?"</i></p><p>As she's talking, you mouth <i>"No idea."</i> You then say goodbye and leave with Russ, who awkwardly waves again.</p><p>"That's done," you sigh before turning to him with a wide smile. "Want some ice cream?"</p>
<hr/><p>You had been meaning to try some monster 'Nice Cream', and to your delight a cart had recently opened in the park. You treat Russ to a chocolate-flavoured one as well as getting one for yourself in the flavour you're currently obsessing over.</p><p>You had caught Russ looking a bit nervous and confused when the two of you reached the front of the line, as if he had been expecting the nice blue rabbit to jump out and fight him. His shoulders visibly relaxed when you got your Nice Creams and left, his attention now focused on the cold, sugary treat in his hands. He frees it from its plastic wrapping, which his eyesockets widen at. You look over and see that there's an illustration of a hug.</p><p>You unwrap yours, wondering if you'd get the same thing. Instead of an illustration, there's a written message saying <i>Are those claws natural?</i></p><p>Even though it's just a printed message on an ice cream wrapper, you feel flattered. Your brother had taught you how to properly take care of your greater form when you were young and you kept up the effort even now.</p><p>You take a bite out of your Nice Cream, and your mouth is instantly filled with a wonderful flavour. Your chest also fills with a light and fluffy feeling, as if the best thing that could possibly happen had just happened to you.</p><p>You turn to Russ to see if it had the same effect on him. He looks over the moon, his eyesockets closed in his ease. There's some Nice Cream on his teeth and you chuckle to yourself. It's good to see him so relaxed.</p><p>"RUSS!"</p><p>He jumps, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. You follow his gaze as it settles on some shorter skeletons standing a distance ahead of the two of you on the path. You think you see Sans, but Russ stands in front of you, blocking your view before you could be sure.</p><p>"h-hey sir--uh, bro, blue!" is Russ's awkward greeting. You don't miss his slip-up. Does he call his brother <i>sir?</i> "how was job hunting?"</p><p>"IT WAS GREAT!" someone exclaims. You recognise it as Blue, the nice, short skeleton with the starry baby blues. "WE DON'T KNOW IF WE'VE GOT ANY JOBS YET, BUT THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE AND RAZZ ARE SURE TO ACQUIRE A FEW!"</p><p>You feel the magic in the air thicken as the other two Boss Monsters approach. Some of Russ's own magic bead on the back of his skull. The gathering would likely have driven your own magic nuts if you weren't wearing a limiter. You'd had many years to get used to your own power, but it's response to monster magic and just the feel of its presence were some things you were still getting used to.</p><p>"ARE YOU HERE WITH YOUR...HUMAN FRIEND, BROTHER?" His brother's voice was similar to Blue's but rougher, more composed. He sounded like he was resigned to the likelihood of getting rejected, in contrast to Blue's excitement. What was his name? 'Razz'? Have you met him before...?</p><p>"um, she's...around." Russ replies, standing in front of you firmly. Was he purposely hiding you from his brother? You don't see what the big problem is...</p><p>You lean to the side to see and you feel yourself go rigid as familiar red eyelights look back at you. They're bigger, but also smaller, than the last time you've seen them and he's actually slightly shorter than you. His clothing contrasted Blue's, whose are blue and white where his are red and black.</p><p>Your mind immediately recalls some events from a few weeks ago; the forest, getting struck, him holding your lesser form in his gloved hands, the house...</p><p>You are also very aware of the fact that you're wearing the exact same limiter as you had that day--your choker with the enchanted gemstone. You could only hope that he hadn't noticed it back then or doesn't put two-and-two together. It'd be a big and unlikely assumption, but you wouldn't put it past a monster who already knew magic exists.</p><p>He does stare at you and for a moment, during which you think you're busted, but he turns back to Russ with an unreadable expression on his face.</p><p>"SHE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU, BROTHER." He sounds unimpressed, sort of like your own brother when you confuse tomatoes with apples.</p><p>"oh yeah, there you are! nyeh heh..." He tries to play it off like he hasn't been intentionally hiding you behind him like a stolen cookie, but his brother obviously doesn't buy it. He doesn't say anything about it, though. He turns his attention back to you and you think that you wouldn't need to be sensitive to magic to get the sense that he was dangerous.</p><p>"IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, HUMAN," he says, but it doesn't really sound like he was pleasured. "I'M RAZZ, PA-- RUSS'S BROTHER."</p><p>He says his own name in a strange way, like how you'd say your fake name when you'd recently changed it. He holds out his hand in a handshake, which you accept, and it's painfully firm from both sides. His smile is strained and so is your own.</p><p>"It's...nice to meet you too." You tell him your name, and you both release the handshake rather aggressively. Russ is practically dripping with magic sweat, and Blue desperately tries to break the tension in the air.</p><p>"IS THAT NICE CREAM?" he gasps. "WE SHOULD GET SOME TOO, RAZZ!"</p><p>"I--" It sounds like he's about to reject, but he changes his mind. "THAT WOULD BE NICE."</p><p>He looks up at you again and you look away, forcing a smile.</p><p>"I-I'll pay for them."</p><p>"THAT'S VERY KIND OF YOU, HUMAN, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO!" Blue insists.</p><p>"Nah, it's okay, I don't mind." You ignore the suspicious look Razz sends your way, turning around to head back to the cart.</p><p>"What kinda flavours do you guys want?" you ask.</p><p>"ANY FLAVOUR IS FINE BY ME," Blue says cheerfully, though he still seems a bit unsure of you treating them. You look at Razz, who's looking at Russ, nervously gnawing on his popsicle stick.</p><p>"...WHAT MY BROTHER HAD." He then glances up at you again, but you notice with dread that his eyes don't quite meet your gaze. You lift your hand to suck on your Nice Cream, effectively hiding your choker behind it.</p><p>You buy their Nice Cream, multiple thoughts running through your head. What should you do? You fortunately have the handy trick of hypnotism that have saved you from tons of trouble before, but you weren't sure if it would work on monsters. They could be immune for all you knew, and Razz is a Boss Monster. <i>Should</i> you even wipe him, if you could? Dammit, your brother would know what to do...</p><p>No, no, you're just overthinking this. For all you know he's completely oblivious and you're worrying over nothing.</p><p>You give Blue the blueberry Nice Cream and Razz the chocolate one. Blue tears the wrapper open and reads the message.</p><p>"'MAY YOU HAVE A LOVELY DAY AS LOVELY AS YOU!'" he reads out, and then he laughs. "MWEH HEH HEH! YOU TOO, MR. WRAPPER!"</p><p>Razz scoffs at his. "'YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING AMAZING'. OF COURSE I CAN. I DON'T NEED A WRAPPER TO TELL ME THAT."</p><p>Well hasn't he got confidence.</p><p>"I'll get going now," you say, definitely not to escape. You smile at Russ, but he remains tense, forcing a small smile in return. "See you later, Russ."</p><p>"uh, wait," he stops you. "want me to...walk you home?"</p><p>You know that he's probably still torn up about crashing your car, but you don't want to hold him or the other skeletons up any longer. You needed some time by yourself to think right now, anyway.</p><p>"Nah, I'm fine."</p><p>"oh, okay...see ya."</p><p>You pat him on the shoulder in what you hope is a reassuring manner. Blue bids you goodbye, while Razz seems too distracted in his Nice Cream to notice you were leaving.</p><p>Once the park is behind you, you sigh, slumping into the bench at a bus stop. You honestly don't feel like taking the bus, but it was still too bright out for you to change form and fly home, even if you could use some letting loose. You can't let people see you.</p><p>Your hand goes up to the choker around your throat and feel the grooves of the gemstone hanging there. It was a limiter; it absorbs excessive magic and stores it away for later use. It makes it easier to control your magic during flare-ups and kept your greater form from rearing its head. It was, in other words, a collar.</p><p>When you were young, you had more trouble controlling your own power, especially when it got stronger the older you got. Not only was it unpredictable, but it was hard to resist the temptations that came with having the power. You've learned to overcome it over the years. It would still be unbearable from time-to-time, but you have enough control to not raze an entire city for fun. You'd occasionally find rare items in your pockets that you don't remember stealing, but that can't really be helped.</p><p>Your brother's powers were a lot more stable. He didn't have the problems you did, but he still went out of his way to try and understand how to help you when the two of you were young.</p><p>Speaking of, you have to tell him about your car. He won't be happy about it, but he's pretty used to you wrecking your stuff by now. You pull out your phone and prepare to text him when you realize that he had texted <i>you</i> a few minutes ago.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Brother</b><br/>
<i>I managed to clear up my schedule for Friday next week.</i><br/>
<i>Let's have dinner together, like usual.</i><br/>
<i>Or we can do something else instead. You choose :)</i>
</p><p>
  <i>By the way, it's 'Dare and I'.</i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dialogue is kinda hard for me to write so I'm sorry ;-;</p><p>I honestly thought that this chapter was going to be shorter but I ended up writing the pet shelter scene anyway, which kinda feels unnecessary but my head is telling me it's gonna be relevant later so yeah it's here now (btw I don't know how animal shelters work so if there's something wrong tell me so that I can fix it. Man I gotta stop writing myself into a corner)</p><p>Speaking of writing myself into a corner, it's a lot harder than I thought it'd be to describe Reader's magic (and just magic in general). In my head, I know how it works, but I can't perfectly write it how I want to :/</p><p>Why does my brain not give me words when I need words aaa</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Gamers don't die they respawn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You take a small break and play a video game.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I should probably save this chapter for next weekend so that I can get in consistent updates buuuut uhhh I really feel like posting it now so here it is</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Your phone wakes you up again.</p><p>You lift your head from the cookbook you had been reading and reach for it blindly as you rub the sleep from your eyes.</p><p>"Hello?"</p><p><i>"Hello, dear,"</i> comes a voice from the other line. It was Malva's. <i>"Sorry for bothering. I'm just calling to ask if you will be joining us on this month's Full-Moon Patrol."</i></p><p>"Hnh? The patrol?" You go through your mental calendar. The next full moon is going to be a few days after your meet-up with your brother. "Oh, yeah, I'm available."</p><p><i>"Wonderful! Meet at the shelter, as usual. Don't forget to eat healthy and have a nice day, dear."</i> The line goes quiet and you place your phone down on the table. You glance over all the books scattered on the dining table and sigh.</p><p>You had been so focused on you and your brother's meet-up that you had forgotten about the next full moon. Shoot, should you be worried? With how crazy your magic has been lately and hanging around Boss Monsters, losing control on that night is not a low possiblity.</p><p>Everyone knew that magic is at its peak during full moons. That's why werewolves are more likely to be spotted by humans at that time. They can usually control their shapeshifting, but those that have less control over it (like young children/cubs and teenagers) often accidentally transform and go around mindlessly wrecking stuff. Young magicals are required to barricade themselves inside their homes, but sometimes they break out which is why the Full-Moon Patrol is initiated.</p><p>You look over your list of dishes. You were having a lot of trouble picking something to make for the dinner. You had volunteered to cook this time since your brother did it last time, but you were starting to regret that. He said he'd be fine with anything but 'anything' was a lot to choose from.</p><p>He didn't say that you can't just order take-out...but that would be giving up and it was too soon to give up!</p><p>The two of you had also agreed to do it at your apartment this time. It was a lot cozier and the two of you could just have dinner and binge Netflix until you both passed out.</p><p>Dare had suggested you do mac and cheese. Russ had no idea what you should do, but he had said that his cousins liked to make either spaghetti, lasagna or tacos for dinner. You kind of think it's boring now, but your brother likes lasagna so it made it on the list.</p><p>Some other stuff on the list included pizza, sushi and mac and cheese. They all sounded very appealing to you (making pizza by hand is pretty damn fun) but you can't make them all.</p><p>You go on Discord for some extra help. Some members of a fan group you're in are online at the moment and you ask them. A few of them lived in different continents of the world so they had some interesting suggestions. You write a lot of them down. You chat with some of your gaming friends and they end up convincing you to take a break and play a game with them online.</p><p><i>"I heard they updated the game with a boss based off one of those monsters in Ebott."</i> one of them says as you boot up the game.</p><p>
  <i>"Dude, seriously? Which one? Which boss is it?"</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"I think it's called 'Taurel'? We can find it in the mountain area, I think."</i>
</p><p>They based a boss off the queen? That's pretty cool.</p><p>There's a curse in your ear. <i>"I hate that place!"</i></p><p>"We're gonna have to wait for Moss and Cub to come online if we wanna go there." you agree. "Are you guys up for some PvP?"</p><p>You played video games from time-to-time and have a group of friends that you played with pretty often. Two of them are Jay and Mia, the ones you're playing with right now. Jay was a college student, and Mia worked at a music store with her roommate that played with you occasionally. Moss and Cub knew each other in real life and were professional gamers. You had no idea anymore how this group had managed to form but you're not complaining. They were good company.</p><p>You don't know if any of them were magicals. They all seemed very much human, but you had the suspicion that Cub could be a werewolf. Not just because of their name, but because of some things that they'd said (and that they liked to play as a dog or a wolf when they were able to. They might just be a bit of a furry, actually).</p><p>You, Jay and Mia play a few games on PvP until Jay has to log off to finish an assignment, making the both of you promise not to go to the mountain area without him. It was a bummer, but it looked like Taurel would have to wait another day. You continue playing with Mia, but you have to stop when you end up getting too frustrated at incompetent players on your team.</p><p>The two of you hang around the game lobby instead. There are some new players running around, and Mia liked to help them out. You don't really give a damn, but you stick by her because some dudes can turn out to be real jerks or creeps.</p><p>A player's avatar comes up to the two of you and starts chatting.</p><p> </p><p>
  <i><b>fellbones86:</b> heya</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>Miaowshake:</b> hello! :)</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>Goldilots:</b> yo.</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>fellbones86:</b> heard u guys were nice</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Mia laughs in your ear.</p><p> </p><p>
  <i><b>Miaowshake:</b> haha! Yeah i'm nice but goldie can be kinda mean sometimes.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>"Wow thanks." you deadpan, typing a <i>&gt;:(</i> . Mia snickers.</p><p> </p><p>
  <i><b>Miaowshake:</b> you new? want us to give you some tips?</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>fellbones86:</b> howd i get cool stuff</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>Goldilots:</b> you play.</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>Miaowshake:</b> haha yeah. you gotta play a lot to get all the cool stuff. you get some of the really good armor by accomplishing quests, getting achievements and fighting bosses. you can just look up a guide, or if you want we can play with you a bit and help you get started, show you the ropes.</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>fellbones86:</b> sound like lotta work :/</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>Miaowshake:</b> yeah, a lot of the really good stuff you get in life need lots of work, but you can do it! being low level sucks but you'll get there everyone does :)</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>fellbones86:</b> damn u ARE nice</i>
</p><p>
  <i><b>Miaowshake:</b> haha thanks i do my best!</i>
</p><p> </p><p>She then proceeds to explain the mechanics to them and suggests things for them to do. She drags you into playing a game with them, and she requests a call with them to make communication easier.</p><p><i>"Hello!"</i> she chirps.</p><p>There's a momentary silence before they say anything.</p><p>
  <i>"...hey."</i>
</p><p>Their voice was deep and gravelly, sounding like a man in his thirties. Your guard immediately goes up. Mia keeps up her cheerful demeanor, but you can tell she's a bit wary.</p><p><i>"Where do you wanna get started?"</i> she asks him.</p><p>
  <i>"uh, i dunno. you're the experts, you lead."</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"Alright then, what you wanna do here is..."</i>
</p><p>The three of you look for enemies and puzzles and she coaches him on how to deal with them. He picks stuff up pretty quick, killing enemies in a heartbeat and easily solving puzzles that even you two had trouble with. He also curses a lot, likes to yell at enemies and gets overly excited over cool and edgy items. You and Mia ease up. Looks like he's just a guy in his thirties that enjoys playing video games and nothing else.</p><p>Plenty of times, you hear other voices from fellbones86's side. There's also lots of shouting, and he occasionally talks to someone else that you guess is watching him play. Well, it was obvious he didn't live alone.</p><p>At some point, he has to turn off his microphone to talk to someone. It takes him a long while, and while he's distracted you drop items around him while Mia stands by and laughs uncontrollably.</p><p><i>"hey i--the hell?"</i> His character looks around him at the scattered items.</p><p>"We're sacrificing you." you say.</p><p><i>"We're sending you to serve Satan."</i> Mia adds between laughs.</p><p><i>"wh--i don't wanna serve no one!!"</i> He runs out of the circle and you chase after him.</p><p>"It's too late, you're one of them now."</p><p><i>"no. HELL NO!"</i> he screams, throwing his weapons at you. <i>"what've you chicks done?? You humans are nuts!"</i></p><p>Mia is losing her crap so she doesn't notice what he'd said. You do though and do a complete one-eighty.</p><p>"Calm down dude, it's just a joke," you reassure him quickly. "We promise that we're not in a weird cult."</p><p><i>"ya better not!"</i> he growls. <i>"'cause you do anythin' weird then you're gonna have a bad time y'hear!"</i></p><p><i>"Okay, okay, we're sorry!"</i> Mia apologises, but she's still giggling. <i>"We didn't think it'd upset you so much."</i></p><p>He mumbles something under his breath. <i>"whatever. thanks for teaching me stuff, i guess, but i gotta go. see ya, ladies."</i></p><p>You both say your goodbyes and he goes offline. You play with Mia for a bit longer until she has to go too. With no reason left to stay online, you turn off your game to go back to planning. You don't make much progress, though. You were too distracted.</p><p>'Fell<i>bones</i>'? Good at puzzles? Calling you and Mia 'humans'?</p><p>You think you'd just randomly met one of Russ's cousins in a video game.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Gamer skelly inspired by The Skeleton Games by Poetax (it's a really good UF Sans/Reader fic I recommend it)</p><p>I play video games but I'm not much of a gamer so I can't really write too much of it without getting it overly horribly wrong. That's the theme with this fic's chapters: Maj Writing About Stuff She Knows Nothing About So She Writes Them Really Wrong/Not Very Detailed</p><p>Idk where Reader's Internet friends came from I just wrote and wrote and here they are</p><p>OH YEAH also I changed the day of the family dinner! She's gonna properly meet some skellies before then. What do you think she should make?</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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